


Let Not Our Longing

by EnnaSparks



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Post-Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, but it takes some time, they adopt a kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23464978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnnaSparks/pseuds/EnnaSparks
Summary: When the Doctor answers a distress call from a mysterious Gallifreyan, she unknowingly waltzes into a family drama worthy of the soaps. It’s the Master, the Doctor, and a kid trying to unravel the secrets of Gallifrey while also dealing with their shared trauma and, in the case of the two “best enemies,” some unresolved tension.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so. I haven’t written fic since I was fourteen, but I’m stuck in quarantine and full of ideas, so here we go. As a disclaimer, I’m a New Who gal who doesn’t know all the lore. I’ve read the Wikipedia page on Gallifrey though, which means I’m on the way there… right? Anyway, this has only been read by me and my reluctant second reader, my unenthusiastic brother, who stopped watching the show at Matt Smith. Thus, apologies for any mistakes.

The Doctor was alone. Now, of course, this was nothing new. The Doctor knew what “alone” was. She’d been there plenty of times, got the postcards and the t-shirts and a couple of souvenir mugs to prove it. She’d seen alone, she’d done alone, but she had to be alone. She was a danger, a risk, a… liability.   
  
Getting out of the Judoon prison had been a bit of a chore, but not impossible for a woman used to tight spots and hard situations. Of course, it had helped a bit that Captain Jack Harkness had appeared and offered his assistance. The man was a marvel, and, obviously, a horrifying, immortal mistake that was a sin against the very existence of time itself. Looking at his handsome face was like staring into a blazing sun. It hurt. It hurt badly for more reason than one.   
  
He’d tried to stay after dropping her back at her TARDIS, offering kind words for Gallifrey and for her never-ending losses. She’d blown him off with patented cheerfulness, throwing off his concerns with smiles and snark. Gallifrey was gone. She’d saved it, then they’d condemned her, and then she’d lost it again. And now… now the secrets of Gallifrey were laid bare, with her at the heart of their darkness.  
  
She had no doubt that the Master had survived. Ever since Paris, he’d been a humming presence in the back of her head, one that she’d tried her best to block. Well, she hadn’t tried her best. That was wrong. She couldn’t rid herself of him entirely, because to do so would be to condemn herself to the empty, quiet of her own mind. Time Lords, or whatever she was these days, weren’t made to be alone. Creatures of natural telepathy, they, and she, longed for the connection of another mind, something that her human companions could not, under any circumstances, offer her. The Master, despite his madness and cruelty, could.   
  
Anyway, he was still there, humming away in the back of her head. Rassilion only knew how he had escaped the death particle, but he had, and he was still out there humming and hunting. She could find him, he wasn’t blocking her out, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to. After their last interaction, she wasn’t convinced that a conversation with the Master would be in any way enlightening, and it certainly wouldn’t be uplifting. She was already at rock bottom. She didn’t need the Master to give her a shovel.   
  
So, no Master. The Fam were on Earth, where they belonged. She could go and pick them up. They could adventure again. They could do some good. But, Rassilion, she was so tired, and they had so many questions. Sweet Yaz, brave Ryan, and kind Graham… They deserved better than her. They deserved better than a broken woman with newly discovered amnesia about a violent and abusive past. They deserved better than a woman who allowed the man who destroyed her planet to remain in her mind, despite his words, his actions, and his choices. They might be hurt for a little while, but short-term pain was better than the alternative.   
  
It was better than their deaths.   
  
She couldn’t go back to them. Not now. Maybe not ever. They were better off without her, especially now that she was aware of the violent and secretive past contained within her. She had been some kind of… soldier? Weapon? Agent?  
  
She couldn’t be sure of herself, and while she had decided, ultimately, to not let her past define her, she couldn’t help but be curious and also a little frightened. How many of her were out there? What had they, had she, done?   
  
So, she was truly alone. No Master, no Fam, no Jack. Just endless space and time and the Doctor in her TARDIS. Just as it should be.   
  
Just as that thought finished rolling its way from one ear to another, a sound registered. There was a sudden and persistent beeping from the TARDIS console. It was a signal of some kind. No, wrong. It was a distress signal… It was a distress signal in Gallifreyan. There was a Gallifreyan asking for help! Someone was still out there. Someone that had fled the pocket universe and had, somehow, escaped the Master and his destruction. There was someone that, perhaps, didn’t know about the fate of their planet, of their home, of their people. There was someone who needed saving, and here was the Doctor in her TARDIS, ready and able to serve.  
  
It was time to get back to it. Yes, she was alone, but that didn’t mean she was incapable. She was still the Doctor. She still had a duty of care to the universe, and, specifically, to this Gallifreyan who needed to be told the truth.   
  
She raced to the console, turned the dials, and hurried to do what she’d always done. It was time to be the Doctor, time to live within the identity she’d chosen.   
  
\------------  
  
The signal was coming from Deprane, a planet sparsely inhabited and heavily forested. The native inhabitants were creatures that looked a bit like earth lemurs, but they walked on two legs and built complex tree houses. They also threw a wild “New Year” celebration, complete with copious amounts of tree-sap brandy. It was finest stuff and a finer party. It had been a long time since she’d been to Deprane. She had no idea how or why another Gallifreyan would be there, but she couldn’t stop her hearts from racing with apprehension and, surprisingly, excitement.   
  
She traced the signal to the northernmost continent, a location not colonized by the native inhabitants. It looked like her countryman or woman was trying to isolate themselves within the deep forests of the region. She wondered why.   
  
She landed the TARDIS with a deciding thud, and then careened out the front door. She was not excited. No, certainly not.   
  
As the door creaked shut behind her, she took in her surroundings. Ahead of her there was a simple tent in the deep red typical of Gallifrey. This could, truly, be a refugee or a fellow traveler. This could be someone that could understand, that could empathize… It could be someone that knew something of her past and could answer her impossible list of questions. Maybe they…  
  
Suddenly, there was movement at the doorway of the tent. The pointed end of a Gallifreyan blaster poked its head out of the crimson opening, its arrival accompanied by a shout of,  
  
“Who goes there?”   
  
The Doctor, surprised by the hostility, answered the shouted question in common Gallifreyan.  
  
“I got your distress call. I’ve come to assist, if I can. I’m the Doctor.”   
  
With that, a head poked out of the tent. It was a young girl, barely a teen, with long, dusty brown hair. She was dressed in crimson robes a typical, if unfashionable, choice. Her face was streaked with dirt, and there was a cut dashed across her pale forehead that was dripping a slow orange-red into her right eye.   
  
She looked, for all intents and purposes, utterly terrified.   
  
“You’re… you’re the Doctor? Oh Rassilion! You’re the Doctor! I’ve been… Well, I’ve been sorta hoping that you would come. I knew you were out there, he told me you were… I’ve had no idea what to do, you know…”,   
  
The “he” could only be one person.   
  
“The Master. You know the Master.”  
  
“Um. Well, ok. So, it’s a bit of a long story there. Not a good story, really, but he was the one that put me here.”  
  
“What do you know?”  
  
“What do you mean what do I know?”  
  
“I mean, what do you know, kid?”  
  
“Nothing. I don’t know anything. What do you mean? And what’s with the ‘kid’ thing? I’m at the Academy, I’ll have you know.”  
  
“Why did the Master bring you here, uh… Do you have a name?”  
  
“I haven’t finished yet, you know. But, I wanted to be called the Architect. The whole ‘it’s a promise you make’ thing. I want to build things. Big, important things.”  
  
That broke the Doctor’s hearts. An Academy student, young, very young. So young that she hadn’t even, really, chosen a name. She was a child. She just wanted to build things. She didn’t seem to know what had happened to Gallifrey, despite her apparent knowledge of the Master. She needed to tread carefully here, very, very carefully.   
  
“Architect it is then.”  
  
“Where I was before this… They called me Archie. They didn’t much like Architect.”  
  
Now, that was an intriguing piece of information. “Archie” sounded like the kind of name that would be given by humans. Perhaps she had been on Earth or maybe she’d been at any of their colonies throughout time. An almost Time Lady amongst humans. This girl was getting stranger and stranger.   
  
“So, you’ve been among humans, then?”  
  
“Um. Well, yeah. For a while I lived on Earth. With uh… with the Master. Please! Please don’t hate me… You have to understand, I was lost. I had nowhere else to go…”  
  
“Archie. Can I call you Archie? Have you been home since you left?”  
  
“No, no he wouldn’t let me leave. Said it wasn’t safe. Anyway, they wouldn’t want me back. I, uh, I might have… I might have caused a little trouble, you know. Nothing bad! Just a little… digging around.”  
  
“Archie, why’d you send the distress signal?”  
  
“Well. He said he’d come back for me. He didn’t. I figured that if I put out a signal, you’d come. He talked about you all the time. Said you were one of the only ones left out there wandering around. I made an… an educated guess that it would be you that would come, if it wasn’t him.”  
  
“Well, you’re lucky it was me then.”  
  
“No, no! The Master has been kind to me! I know his reputation. Trust me, I know. But, he helped me when no one else would. I think he’s better now, a better man.”  
  
This was striking. The Master had saved this girl from something, and then had saved her from himself. It was… unlike him to care. He had cared for her for some reason. He had cared for a child, not even graduated. There was only one reason why he would do that.   
  
She was important, either to her or to him in some way, and it seemed like the girl had no idea.   
  
This was concerning. The Master didn’t just save people. He didn’t just do things. He always had an agenda, a plan of some sort, to serve his own purposes and feed his own madness. Even when he had been Missy, even when she’d seen moments and flashes of the child that was, there had still been an agenda. She should, probably, walk away from this one. It was likely that this girl was some sort of bait, a way to pull at her heartstrings, so that the Master could waltz back into her life with his characteristic pomp and circumstance. She should turn around, go back to the TARDIS, and go back to where she’d been before she got the signal. The Doctor, the TARDIS, and the universe. It was what she deserved…  
  
But, the girl was hurt and afraid, and she had been looking for the Doctor specifically. She couldn’t just leave a scared kid, especially not one who had likely been dragged into this because of some sort of nebulous connection to her or her best enemy. She was the Doctor, and she couldn’t just walk away.   
  
So, her mind was made up.  
  
“I doubt he’ll be coming back anytime soon, Archie. He had a run-in… Well, he had a run-in with me.”  
  
“Wait, what do you mean?”   
  
The kid sounded genuinely surprised. Did she not know about the enmity between her and the Master? It seemed unlikely that the Master had not at least mentioned his hatred.   
  
“He and I don’t get along, Archie. He didn’t make that clear?”  
  
“What? I… I don’t understand. He always talked like you were important. I always figured that you were married or something.”  
  
Well. That was surprising.   
  
“He said we were married?”  
  
“No, no. But, he talked about you like you were. So, I just sort of assumed.”  
  
Right on time, she felt a soft knock against her mental defenses.   
  
Contact  
  
She should ignore him. She should scoop up the girl and run. He had destroyed their planet, their people, and had rattled her entire worldview. He wasn’t worthy of her time.   
  
But, she had always been weak when it came to the Master.   
  
Contact  
  
So, I see you’ve found my little surprise.   
  
He sounded impossibly smug. She wanted to deck him.   
  
I’ve found an injured child abandoned on a planet to fend for herself. Is that what you’re wondering?  
  
Oh, oh. Don’t count her out. She’s far more than she seems. She can take care of herself.   
  
Why did you save her? What is she to you?  
  
Important.  
  
Not an answer.   
  
It’s the only answer you’re getting for now.  
  
How did you survive?  
  
Another answer you’ll have to go without, my dear.   
  
Now, another knock against her defenses. Someone else wanted in, and she could guess who.  
  
Contact  
  
The kid probably wanted to talk to the Master. She couldn’t allow that. The girl was safer with her than with him, and they needed to go… and soon.   
  
“No, Archie. It won’t help. He’s mad.”  
  
I’m coming. Fast as I can. Wait for me, Doctor. Keep the child and wait for me. I’ll explain.   
  
That wasn’t going to happen. They were going to go. The girl was going to be safe. She wasn’t going to let the Master back in without a fight.  
  
“Come on, Archie. We need to be going now. Get whatever you need but do it fast. Do it very fast.”  
  
“He’s coming for me, isn’t he? I felt him talking to you! I know he’s coming. I won’t go without him!”  
  
Children. She’d forgotten how much fun they were.   
  
“Archie… He isn’t… He’s not what you think.”   
  
In fact, he was so far beyond guardian material that the Doctor really couldn’t imagine someone worse.   
  
“You think I don’t know that? I’m not stupid. I’ve read the books, seen the vids. My life was… It was bad, okay? Very, very bad. He saved me from that. I owe him at least some loyalty for what he did for me.”  
  
“Archie. He cannot be trusted. You called for me, and I came. Now, let’s go.”  
  
She grasped the girl’s hand and pulled her toward the tent.  
  
“Get your stuff, come on. Hop to it!”  
  
The girl set her arms across her chest, resolutely. The Doctor knew where this was going.   
  
“No. I won’t do it.”  
  
“Archie, you wanted to leave, and now we’re going to.”  
  
“I didn’t want to leave… I just wanted help! I’ve been working on it, and I… I got hurt. And I… I might have broken it?”  
  
“What’s ‘it’, Archie? Be very specific here.”  
  
The girl then glanced down and smudged the toe of her boot against the forest floor. Her cheeks reddened and a blush reached across the bridge of her pale nose.   
  
“Well, I did say it was a long story, right?”  
  
Suddenly, the Doctor felt that she had some idea of where this was going.   
  
“You stole a TARDIS!”  
  
This prompted the girl to look up, tears now flooding her eyes.   
  
“Yes. I stole it. Had some help though.”  
  
“You! You stole a TARDIS! You’re just a kid!”  
  
“A smart kid! And, I did have some help.”  
  
“Some help from the Master?”   
  
At this, the girl set her jaw resolutely and returned her eyes to the ground. Shame, the Doctor realized. The girl was ashamed of whatever she had done.   
  
“Like I said, it’s a long story.”  
  
The girl had a TARDIS. The tent was another TARDIS. This girl, this child, had flown a TARDIS and had come out the other side breathing.   
  
The Doctor was impressed. It had taken her much longer to become a renegade.   
  
Contact   
  
Great. They’d lingered too long.   
  
Contact… Go away!  
  
Nope. I’ve got a kid to pick up from school. Seen her anywhere?  
  
You’ll take her over my dead body.   
  
“Now, now. No need to get kinky, dear.”  
  
He waltzed out from behind her, swaying with each step. His face was lit up in a manic grin, teeth bared, but there was something behind his eyes. There was a softness, directed towards the child. The same child who, noticing his dramatic entrance, wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and dashed towards him.   
  
She stopped short of throwing herself into his arms, smart girl, but her whole demeanor had shifted. Her eyes had hardened, the nervousness and self-consciousness seemingly vanished by the presence of the Master.   
  
“I found the Doctor!”  
  
“Yes, so I see.”  
  
“She thinks you don’t like her.”  
  
“I like her just fine.”  
  
Now, that was objectively false.   
  
Contact  
  
Contact  
  
Does she know about Gallifrey? Did she see it? Have you hurt her? Tell me!  
  
You know, it’s rude to keep secrets from children, Doctor.   
  
“Archie, I’d like to formally introduce you to my dear friend, the Doctor. Doctor, meet Archie. She’s… Well, in a manner of speaking, she’s my daughter.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still only read by my poor brother. So, have mercy on my soul.

“What?!”  
  
The Doctor’s hearts stopped. A child? Rassilion, a child? How in the universe had the Master… well, she could imagine how… but why? But wait, the girl had been on Gallifrey. How had the Master had a child on Gallifrey? It seemed impossible, but yet…  
  
“Surprised?”  
  
He was so, so smug. Always with a secret, always with a mystery to unravel.  
  
She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of trying to figure it out this time.  
  
“Archie, time to leave.”  
  
“No.”  
  
Well, it was a long shot anyways.  
  
It was then that she noticed it. The Master was pale and flagging. He was confident yes, full of his usual swagger, but he was faded and seemed to be trying to mask an injury on his right side. Whatever he had done to escape, and to get to Deprane so quickly, had obviously drained him. He was hurting, deeply hurting. Now that she was paying attention, she could hear his distress in her mind. She was sure he wasn’t projecting it purposely, but his mind was bleeding, and she could feel every rip and tear. She was surprised he was even upright.  
  
“Master! What did you do?”  
  
Apparently, she wasn’t the only one that had noticed.  
  
Archie, who had previously held her distance, moved towards the Master, arms outstretched. He stopped her with a wave of his hand, the other now clasped to his side.  
  
“I’ll live, Archie. I’ll live. The real question is what happened to you? What’s with the face?”  
  
Archie reached a hand to her brow, fingers coming away bloody.  
  
“I… I couldn’t fix it alone. I’m sorry.”  
  
“No apologies. Never apologize, Archie. It can be fixed.”  
  
The Master then fell to one knee on the forest floor, any color he’d had slowly fading from his face. Archie finally crossed her self-imposed line and dropped to her knees beside him. Instead of pushing her away, the Master reached forward to brush his hand across her forehead.  
  
“You’re hurt, kid. You’re hurt. Find the Doctor… Find… the…”  
  
He lilted to one side and collapsed, smearing blood across the side of Archie’s face.  
  
It was time that she stepped in here… for Archie’s sake and Archie’s sake alone. Obviously.  
  
She raced over to the odd pair. Archie was staring blankly at the Master’s collapsed form, hand pressed to her bloody face. The Doctor whipped a cloth out of one of her many pockets and pressed it to Archie’s forehead.  
  
“Put pressure on it. Head wounds, they’ll bleed like nothing else.”  
  
“What’s.. what’s wrong with him?”  
  
She sounded worried and… scared. Scared of her? Scared of the Master? The Doctor couldn’t be sure.  
  
“Probably pushed himself too hard. Don’t worry, he can live through anything. Believe me.”  
  
“He’s hurt.”  
  
“Yes, which gives us plenty of time to perform our strategic retreat! Come on, Archie. Let’s get a shift on!”  
  
She started to move away, hoping that Archie would be smart enough to follow.  
  
“My TARDIS isn’t far from here. We’ll jump in, hop away for a bit, reevaluate, and then come back for your TARDIS. Honestly, I’m quite impressed about that bit, I’ll have you know.”  
  
She turned back to see if Archie had decided to follow and found that the girl had not moved from her position. She remained bowed over the Master’s prone form, face still frozen. One fist was clenched at her side, while the other hand was hovering over the Master, as if she was afraid to touch him. Her forehead was bleeding again, the cloth the Doctor had given her now cast aside. When she spoke, her voice was soft and aching.  
  
“Don’t leave. We can’t leave him. Please, Doctor. He’s all I’ve got. He’s all I’ve got.”  
  
This was her moment. She could leave now. She could walk away and leave the Master and his… child to their own devices. Rassilion knew the Master deserved to be abandoned. He deserved to ache in the same way that she had been. He deserved…  
  
But, he didn’t, and neither did Archie. Neither of them deserved to be abandoned, not even after everything they’d, he’d done. No one deserved to be abandoned. Her mind was made up. She would help Archie. She would help the Master.  
  
“Okay, Archie. Okay. We’ll get him to my TARDIS. I’ll take a look at him.”  
  
She brightened then, and a small smile broke across her face.  
  
“I’ll get his legs!”  
  
Well, great.  
  
\------------  
  
The Master looked far less intimidating when all she could see was his legs (and his utterly ridiculous socks) being carried by a red-faced child.  
  
“He’s heavier than he looks!” Said child felt the need to exclaim.  
  
“It’s the weight of his massive ego.” At that, Archie chuckled. She truly seemed like a decent kid. It seemed impossible that she could have come from the Master.  
  
“Archie…” She began, unable to put into words the thousands of questions bouncing around in her head.  
  
“I know it’s weird, and I’m sorry you’re in the middle of it, Doctor. I know that you have no reason to believe me, but please trust me when I say that I really didn’t anticipate this. I guess I shouldn’t have sent the distress signal. I was just… I was worried.”  
  
“It’s fine, Archie. We’ll get this all ironed out, even the Master.” Her questions could wait. From the looks of it, she’d have plenty of time to ask them.  
  
And, she’d have the Master as a captive audience. At last.  
  
“Does your TARDIS have a full med-bay? I was never able to find the one in mine. It didn’t seem to like me much. Called me a ‘thief’ a couple of times. It should have been grateful! I took it out and on an adventure. It would have just been sitting there otherwise!”  
  
“It’ll warm up to you. Mine did.”  
  
“Really? Oh, that’s good! I thought about trying to give it a nickname, but it didn’t seem to like that at all. Does yours have a nickname? If yours doesn’t have a name, I can help you brainstorm! I love a good brainstorm!”  
  
When she talked, it reminded her of Koschei, of the way the Master had been once. He had been an inquisitive child. Brilliant, utterly brilliant. Smarter than she had been. Koschei had always done better at the Academy and had been better loved by their classmates. Poor Theta had been behind always, stuck away in daydreams.  
  
“I also love a good brainstorm!” She replied.  
  
Children. She’d forgotten how fun they could be.  
  
“Is that your TARDIS? Why’s it blue like that? Did you break the chameleon circuit? How did you break that? It’s virtually unbreakable, you know.”  
  
“Yes, that’s the TARDIS. And oi! I’ll have you know that I like the blue.”  
  
They then crossed into the TARDIS, and Archie abruptly dropped the Master’s legs, causing the Doctor to stumble. She was about to be cross when she noticed the look in Archie’s eyes. It was the look that her companions got from time to time, a sense of wonder, of adoration, of disbelief.  
  
“I can’t believe I’m in your TARDIS! You’re legendary at the Academy, you know. You’re banned from course readings, for obvious reasons, but everyone there knows who you are. You escaped and went to the stars. I always wanted to do that.”  
  
She paused, staring at the console.  
  
“But, I was no good. Anyway, your console looks different. What have you done to it? Have you modified this all on your own? Can you show me how?”  
  
The Doctor was moved. They talked about her? At the Academy nonetheless?  
  
Well, they didn’t talk anymore. The Master had made sure of that.  
  
That thought strengthened her resolve. She’d help Archie, not the Master. She’d help the kid who knew nothing about Gallifrey’s destruction, not the man who’d destroyed it.  
  
“Help me get him to the med-bay. Then, I’ll show you how the console works, yeah?”  
  
She nodded, but her eyes looked suddenly sad.  
  
“Yes, of course. Sorry! I got distracted. I love TARDISes!”  
  
Archie returned to the Master’s legs, and they moved towards the med-bay, which the TARDIS had re-located close to the console room, gorgeous girl. They hauled the Master onto the examination table, and the Doctor set the TARDIS to scanning. Archie, surprisingly, reached out and took his hand.  
  
“Don’t worry, Master. She’s got you now. You’ve got the Doctor, you’ll be okay.”  
  
As if on cue, the Master grunted in his sleep.  
  
“He does like you, you know. I really think he does, Doctor.”  
  
She couldn’t help but smile at that.  
  
“Yeah, Archie. Yeah.”  
  
Archie smiled back.  
  
“Now, you’re still bleeding. Come here, and I’ll fix that right up.”  
  
As she ran a regenerator over Archie’s forehead, she stared at the Master. In his current position, he could almost seem docile. He could almost be anyone else. He could almost be Koshcei from so long ago. It was so strange. His interactions with Archie were almost… normal. They were almost… sweet.  
  
He murmured again in his sleep.  
  
“Doctor… Theta… Go! Go!”  
  
She froze, the regenerator paused between Archie’s eyes. Archie grinned up at her.  
  
“He does that all the time, you know. It’s why I thought you were married.”  
  
That was weird. That was really, really weird. The Master had held her against her will and had threatened her with cybermen made from the bodies of the Time Lords not that long ago. How was it possible that he was calling for her even before that? He had seemingly wanted to die by her hand.  
  
Oh Koschei, what had happened? Was it the Timeless Child alone that had fueled his rage? What had happened to Archie, how had she come to be?  
  
He rolled onto his injured side, groaning, and hissed in pain. Archie raced to his side, once again.  
  
“His mind is hurting. I can feel it, and I’m not that good at that stuff. Can I help? What if I reached out…”  
  
“No Archie. No. Don’t touch his mind. If he needs it, I’ll do it.”  
  
Just then, the TARDIS beeped loudly. The results were in, and they were as expected. The Master was mentally and physically exhausted, and he had a stab wound on his side. He would require intensive attention and plenty of time to rest and recover.  
  
He would need to be around for a while yet. She wasn’t sure if that was smart. But, as far as she knew, there were only the three of them left. Well, there were two Time Lords and one… whatever she was. They had to stick together. She would do it for the sake of Archie and for the sake of Koschei, for the sake of the little boy she had known.  
  
“Archie, grab the regenerator. We need to get to work.”  
  
\------------

  


The Master was calling for her. His mind was reaching out, grasping like a needy child, and she was trying, Rassilion she was trying, to block him out and keep him away. He was in a healing trance, which meant that his body was resting. Obviously, his mind wasn’t.  
  
Archie was slumped against the wall, dozing. She was curled into a ball with her knees against her chest. It had taken some convincing to get her to sleep. She had fussed over the Master, covering him with a blanket and asking the Doctor if she thought he needed tea, just in case he woke up and was thirsty. The Doctor had tried to get her into a room down the hall, as the girl was very clearly exhausted by her whole ordeal, but Archie refused to leave. She wanted to be close to the Master. Her loyalty was surprising, but not unprecedented. There had been a time when the Doctor would have done the same.  
  
Now, she was watching the Master and his daughter as they rested. What had her life become?  
  
Maybe she should go fetch the Fam. She knew Yaz would be good with Archie, better than she was certainly. But, the Master was still a danger, and the Fam needed to be protected at all costs. So, no Yaz. Maybe she should go read up on childcare. It had been a very long time since she’d been a parent, and she hadn’t really been “hands-on” the first time around.  
  
Wait, was she considering parenting? Parenting the Master’s child?  
  
Her life was generally exciting, but this had a taken a marked turn into the weird, and the personal.  
  
The Master’s broken mind was still keening and grasping, and he would occasionally mutter phrases to himself. Those phrases would often include her name along with pleading and apologies.  
  
“Please, contact. Contact.” He muttered to himself. Or, more likely, to her.  
  
She wasn’t going to give in. She wasn’t going to let him in.  
  
“Please Theta, please. I miss you.”  
  
Rassilion. He was breaking her hearts.  
  
_Contact  
  
Contact  
  
Theta?  
  
Koschei.  
  
Are you okay? Are you safe?  
  
Yes, but no thanks to you.  
  
Archie?  
  
Safe. Again, no thanks to you.  
  
Theta, what’s wrong with me?  
  
You’re hurt, Koschei. Do you remember what happened to you?  
  
No. Theta, you saved me?  
  
Against my better judgement, yes.  
  
Is Archie ok? She likes oranges from Earth. Get her some, please? She likes oranges.  
  
I’ll get her some, Koschei. But, when you wake up, I want answers, okay? I want answers.  
  
Thank you, Theta. I’m sorry.  
  
Rest, Koshcei. I’ll see you when you wake. _  
  
Well, damnit.__


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still cruising along. I think I've figured out how many chapters this bad boy is gonna have though. So. Progress. Again, sorry for any grammar or for any mistakes involving British-isms of all sorts and kinds. I do promise EMOTIONS next chapter. This one is more fun and adventure-y.

The next morning, or what approximated morning in a TARDIS, the Doctor found herself sat at a breakfast table with an almost Time Lady who was extremely excited about further investigating the intricacies of the practice of breakfast.  
  
“Oh! I like this!”  
  
“Me too! Have another!”  
  
The TARDIS was, kindly, providing the food for their impromptu feast. It seemed that this face was not a particularly good cook, a fact that had been discovered through an unfortunate accident involving tea-making and fire. Apparently, cooking involved constant amounts of attention. She didn’t much like that part.  
  
Archie was utterly enchanted by the chocolate waffle currently gracing her plate. It had taken some convincing to get the girl to leave the Master, but the promise of food was incentive enough for her. She would occasionally interject and ask if the Master would enjoy certain items or if she should save some for him. The girl’s indefatigable effort of care was astounding. The small vindictive voice in the Doctor’s head couldn’t help but want to reveal to Archie what the Master had done. She wanted to take from him the girl’s devotion…  
  
For some reason she couldn’t do it.  
  
Oh! She’d forgotten!  
  
“Archie, do you want an orange? Maybe two? Three?”  
  
“Yes please! I adore those. Grew fond of them while I was on Earth. Didn’t get to leave the TARDIS much, but the Master brought me things from time to time. Ooh! I got to go to a movie once. So primitive, but so exciting. I see why you like humans, Doctor. They’re full of imagination.”  
  
The TARDIS provided Archie with four oranges. The girl devoured them in record time. She must be nearing a growth spurt if she was eating this much. Time Lords generally weren’t so hungry.  
  
It was then that her phone, which she had pretty much forgotten about until now, began to ring. She reached for it only to discover that it was Yaz who was calling. She should ignore it. She wanted, maybe needed, Yaz to think she was dead. She certainly didn’t want to drag her and the others into the middle of whatever fiasco was bound to unfold when the Master finally regained consciousness.  
  
On the other hand, perhaps it would be good for Archie to socialize with other young people. Didn’t children need to be socialized? She couldn’t quite remember.  
  
Anyway, she had every intention of ignoring Yaz, but failed to recall that Archie, ever curious, was sitting right next to her. Archie, obviously noting her hesitance, pulled the phone from her hand and answered.  
  
“Hello! This is the Doctor’s phone. I am, clearly, not the Doctor, but I can take a message if you’d like! Are you a human? Oh! Hello human Yaz!”  
  
The Doctor rushed toward Archie in a flurry born of panic. In her haste, she planted an elbow directly into Archie’s waffle, giving the girl ample time to move to the other side of the room.  
  
“People’s heads are exploding? That sounds… unfortunate. Uh huh, Uh huh. Well actually yes she is alive. Why would she not be?”  
  
The Doctor, motor control now regained, took the phone from Archie and promptly ended the call.  
  
“Archie! You can’t just take things that aren’t yours!”  
  
“She said heads are exploding in a place called Sheffield! That’s bad, right?”  
  
“No distracting! Bad child!”  
  
“I’m not a pet!”  
  
“Maybe not, but you do, apparently, require constant supervision.”  
  
“I was just trying to help, you know. You’re radiating… distress. I can feel it, and I told you I’m terrible at that stuff.”  
  
“Don’t do it again.”  
  
Of course, that’s when Yaz decided to call back. Clearly, the cat was out of the bag now. She might as well answer and face it.  
  
“Hello? Oh, Yaz! Yes, not dead! How surprising! Very exciting for me, living. I love it… Yes. Um. Sorry? Please don’t yell…”  
  
\------------  
  
Heads were, literally, exploding in Sheffield. Yaz gave her the details in and amongst lots of yelling. Apparently, letting your friends mourn your faked death was a bit of a social faux pas. Who knew?  
  
Yelling aside, it did seem that something was terribly wrong in Sheffield. Yaz had been on the scene when one of the unfortunate victims had lost his head, and the experience had rattled her. According to Yaz, the man had been muttering “nonsense” about aliens and about tiny bugs in his eyes before he had died. There had been other deaths as well, of all ages, shapes, sizes, and colors. Yaz couldn’t put rhyme or reason to it and wanted Earth’s declared protector to come and take a look.  
  
The Doctor wanted to go to Yaz, and she certainly wanted to help, but she was concerned, to put it mildly. She still had a genocidal maniac recovering in her med bay. Plus, she had acquired a child, and it seemed irresponsible to take Archie into a situation where her head could possibly explode.  
  
Archie didn’t seem concerned by that possibility.  
  
“We have to go help them! That’s what you do, right? And! This time you have me, and I can help out!”  
  
“No. Absolutely not.”  
  
“I’m not a child. I stole a TARDIS and ran off, just like you! You even said you were impressed by that bit.”  
  
“You are a child, and… yeah I did say that, but no! It doesn’t mean you get to come.”  
  
“I’m probably older than your humans.”  
  
“Yes, but the humans are full grown. You’re still cooking.”  
  
“You can’t just not go. You’re the Doctor.”  
  
“Fine. But! You stay out of trouble. Promise me you’ll run if I say so.”  
  
“Promise.”  
  
She moved over to the console and set the course for Earth.  
  
She had a bad feeling about this.  
  
\------------  
  
When the TARDIS landed, the Doctor rang Yaz and told her to gather the others. She also told her that she had an extra passenger that didn’t need to know anything about the destruction of Gallifrey. She didn’t mention the Master. Didn’t seem wise.  
  
Archie was thrilled by the possibility of meeting new humans. Even before they’d landed, she’d dashed to the TARDIS’ wardrobe to grab some “real human clothes.” She had yet to return, which made the Doctor only mildly nervous. She figured she should use the extra time to check up on the Master.  
  
As she made her way to the med bay, she heard rustling from the wardrobe and muted singing. It seemed that Archie was enjoying herself. Fair enough. Not like she could judge.  
  
The Master was still in his healing coma, but he looked far less pale and faded. She gave him about an Earth day before he woke. Hopefully, she could iron out whatever was going on in Sheffield and be back in time to keep him from causing trouble. Well. Hopefully.  
  
His mind seemed far more settled than it had been before. Oddly, she felt the need to check anyways. She gently poked at his mind.  
  
_Contact.  
  
Hmm? Contact.  
  
I’m taking Archie out for a bit.  
  
Where?  
  
Earth.  
  
Ew.  
  
Don’t be rude.  
  
Looking for your human pets?  
  
Actually, I was trying to leave them alone, but your kid interfered.  
  
She’s good at that.  
  
You’re almost healed. I can tell. That means we get to chat soon. I want answers, Koshcei.  
  
You’ll get… some. Parts of it aren’t my story to tell.  
  
That’s uncharacteristic.  
  
She’s important. You’ll see.  
  
Finish your healing. We’ll talk when I get back.  
  
Go save the universe, Doctor.  
  
Shut up. _  
  
With that she gently closed their connection. He was more himself which was both encouraging and frightening. She sent a mental command to the TARDIS to keep the doors to the med bay locked. She knew that wouldn’t keep him for long, but it made her feel a bit better.  
  
The TARDIS acknowledged her command and told her that the Fam had gathered in the console room. Archie had, according to the TARDIS, let them in. Exciting.  
  
When she entered the console room, she found Archie standing in the middle of a semicircle of humans. She had changed into jeans but had paired them with a ridiculous crimson top with bell sleeves. Apparently, she had inherited her father’s sense of style. At least she hadn’t added a cape. She was blathering to the Fam with characteristic enthusiasm.  
  
“… and then she tells me that she set tea on fire once. Tea!”  
  
The Fam seemed to be entertained by Archie, if a bit confused by her.  
  
“Hey there, Fam! See you’ve met Archie. She’s a… family friend.”  
  
Yaz looked skeptical. Ryan and Graham looked surprised. Hopefully, Yaz had passed on her warning about not talking about Gallifrey.  
  
Graham was the first of the group to speak.  
  
“Nice kid you’ve got here, Doc. Offered to make us tea and everything.”  
  
Archie interjected.  
  
“Did you know Graham drove buses? Isn’t that cool! I’ve always wanted to ride on one. They don’t have stuff like that on Gallifrey.”  
  
The Fam all looked down simultaneously. Yaz started to sway slightly, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Well. It looked like her message had been received.  
  
“Wonderful! Glad you’ve all met. Anyway Fam, I’m sorry about the being dead thing. It’s a long story. Maybe for another time. But, I am sorry. Really sorry.”  
  
Yaz piped up this time.  
  
“It’s okay, Doctor. We sorta understand. I mean, it’s complicated, right?” She shifted her eyes over to Archie who was occupied with fixing her sleeves. The Doctor wondered who they thought Archie was. She certainly wasn’t going to tell them the truth.  
  
“Very. Now, down to business. Exploding heads?” __

__  
_ _

\------------  
  
For all of their incredible creativity and resiliency, humans could be inordinately stupid. It didn’t take the Doctor long to discover what was causing the deaths. Somehow, Silurian spice had made its way to Earth, and, apparently, humans were selling it as a cure-all.  
  
The question was; who was supplying the spice, and where were they getting it?  
  
The “naturopathic” shop that was selling the spice told her that they’d been buying from a man called “Thorsheim,” but they’d never seen his face. Yaz was frustrated by their intransigence regarding their customer’s deaths. They didn’t seem to think that they were in any way responsible and refused to answer any further questions from the Doctor or anyone else.  
  
Thus, the Doctor eventually found herself being chased by a man in a cloak with a blaster down the alleyways of Sheffield. Archie was by her side, clearly exhilarated by the chase. She should have sent the girl with the rest of the Fam who were pursuing other leads. She should have known that trouble would follow her.  
  
Archie didn’t seem to be troubled by the life or death situation. She didn’t even mind when she ripped one of her ridiculous sleeves while jumping over a fence.  
  
“Does this happen on all your outings? I never got to run with the Master! This is great!”  
  
“Archie?”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Don’t tell the Master about this.”  
  
Just then, she registered a burning pain in her left shoulder.  
  
Oh. She’d been shot. That wasn’t good.  
  
“Doctor? Um… I think you’ve…”  
  
“Yes Archie, I’ve realized.”  
  
“Should we… Stop?”  
  
“No! Keep running!”  
  
As they approached the end of the alleyway, she heard voices. It was the Fam! They’d found her… somehow.  
  
She dashed past them shouting,  
  
“Run!”  
  
Now she had a whole collection of people following her. That was good! Except now she needed to figure out where to go.  
  
There appeared to be a garage of some sort ahead. Perfect. They’d dash in, set a trap, and capture whoever this was.  
  
“Ahead team! Squad!”  
  
“Oh Doctor, not this again.” That would be Ryan, of course.  
  
They all filed in behind her as she scanned the building with her sonic. Looked like there was the perfect storm of electrical wiring. She needed five minutes and an extra pair of hands to build an impromptu force field. Hopefully she had that long.  
  
“Archie! Wires. Wall. Here.”  
  
“Force field?”  
  
“Got it in one.”  
  
Archie dashed over to the wall, ripped out the needed wires, and returned to the Doctor’s side.  
  
“Doc! You’re bleeding!”  
  
“Yes Graham. I’ll be okay. Time Lord physiology. Now, give me a moment.”  
  
Archie pulled the wires across the doorway, now helped by Yaz and Ryan, and the Doctor gave them a good scan with the sonic.  
  
“Okay! Looks good. Now everyone back behind me!”  
  
Yaz and Ryan immediately obeyed and moved backward, but Archie lingered for a moment before moving. She’d analyze that later.  
  
They’d gotten ready just fast enough. The cloaked figure smashed through the door, and the Doctor aimed the sonic. A crackling wall of energy surrounded their now captive. His blaster, which had been pointed forward, fell, useless, from his hands. The Doctor gestured to Yaz, who darted over and snatched the weapon.  
  
“Gotcha! Now, tell us why Silurian spice? Why humans? Why Sheffield?”  
  
The figure remained silent and still.  
  
“I don’t love repeating myself. Why. Are. You. Killing. Humans?”  
  
The figure jerked to life, seemingly animated by her tone.  
  
“You must be the Doctor. We’ve heard of you. It was rumored that you had died.”  
  
“Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  
  
“We were told to find you. Told that this place and time were preferred by your current incarnation.”  
  
“You did this to get my attention?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“You have something we want.”  
  
It was then that she noticed a commotion behind her. Archie pushed into her peripheral vision, now grasping the laser weapon. She was holding it like she knew how to use it.  
  
“I know what you want. You won’t touch him.” Archie aimed the weapon and seemed ready to fire.  
  
The Doctor had to stop this madness. She forced herself in front of Archie, blocking her shot.  
  
“Archie. Put the weapon down.”  
  
“I know who they are. Trust me, they deserve it.”  
  
“We don’t do weapons. I don’t do weapons. Put it down.”  
  
“No! Get out of my way!”  
  
“No Archie!”  
  
Then, the door behind the captive burst open to reveal none other than the Master.  
  
He was dressed in his normal purple and plaid disaster and was holding his TCE aloft.  
  
“Thorsheim! My friend! I heard you were looking for something. Unfortunately, you’ll have to go without it.”  
  
He then fired his TCE and grinned wildly as “Thorsheim” disappeared with a sickening pop.  
  
“Nice to see you, dear. Well, dears and pets. Looks like I’ve saved the day, right?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My poor brother is very sad because he can't see his girlfriend, and I keep walking into his room being like "CAN YOU READ MY FANFIC?" We're having good fun in quarantine. Anyway, here are the promised emotions. There will be more next chapter. Also, I still don't know the lore. Sorry!

Archie threw aside her weapon and marched confidently towards the Master, her eyes alight, like she was enjoying herself. Her ripped sleeve dangled from her wrist, a rivulet of red cloth dripping towards the floor. For the first time, the Doctor felt a spark of fear, not of the Master, but of the child who so happily greeted him.  
  
“Archie! My dear!” He called out, enthusiasm evident in his voice. “I would have thought that you would have taken care of this clown yourself.”  
  
“Is that? Is that the Master? How is he alive, Doc?”  
  
Great. Graham’s question was a perfect example of what she had been trying to avoid.  
  
“Oh pets! Surely you must know that the Doc here couldn’t let me die. We’re old friends, she and I.”  
  
“Oh shut it.” She grumbled. She had been hoping for a few more hours of the more compliant comatose Master. Of course, nothing with him ever came easy.  
  
“No really, Doc. What’s he doing here?”  
  
“You haven’t let the pets in on the secret, my dear? Oh! That’s so fun! So you!”  
  
“The Master is here because he needed my help. Nothing more, nothing less.”  
  
“You helped him? After what he did?” That would be Yaz. Her ever-present protector and defender.  
  
“It’s complicated, Yaz.”  
  
“Oooh! I love this. Such emotional unavailability from the Doctor. How does that make you feel, darling Fam? Does it hurt your feelings that she’d help…”  
  
She crossed the room and slammed her elbow into the Master’s side.  
  
“Ow! Rude!”  
  
“You deserved it. Now, everyone back to the TARDIS. I need to have a chat with the Master here.”  
  
She turned on her heel and started marching away, hoping without hope that they would all follow without question or comment. She felt rather than heard Yaz approach her side.  
  
“Are you sure this is safe, Doctor? He hurt you…”  
  
“He’s hurt me a lot, Yaz. I’ll be fine.”  
  
“That kid… that kid was ready to shoot that man before the Master showed up. Is that… normal?”  
  
“I don’t think anything about this is normal. Trust me, Yaz. I’ll tell you what I know when I know it. The first thing I need to do is talk to the Master. Alone.”  
  
“You don’t have to do that, or anything, alone. Haven’t we made that clear? We’re your Fam. We want to help. Let us.”  
  
“Yaz, thank you, but this is far more complicated than it might seem. The Master is… complex. Always has been.”  
  
Yaz stopped, suddenly, head now pointed towards the ground and cheeks reddening.  
  
“Is the kid yours, Doctor? I mean… Is she yours with the Master?”  
  
“What? No! The kid isn’t mine. Don’t be ridiculous.”  
  
“Oh. Alright.”  
  
“Come on, Yaz. The sooner I talk with the Master, the sooner I get answers, and, believe me, we want those.”  
  
She quickened her pace and left Yaz behind. She could hear the Master chuckling. Rassilion, she hated him.  
  
\------------  
  
When they arrived at her TARDIS, she slammed the door open, allowing herself that one, single expression of her frustration. The TARDIS protested with a mental groan. She ignored it.  
  
“You” She pointed at the Master. “with me. The rest of you… stay put. Don’t touch anything! Archie… stay with Yaz.”  
  
Archie rolled her eyes but took a seat on the ground with her back pressed against the console. She’d deal with her later.  
  
She grabbed the Master by his coat sleeve and hauled him away from the console room. He bid farewell to the motley console crew with a sardonic wave and a smirk. The humans glared, but Archie smiled warmly and waved back to him.  
  
She pulled the Master into the first room that materialized, which happened to be her own bedroom, likely conjured by her heightened state of distress. When she reached the room, she threw her coat and herself onto the floor, not even bothering with a chair. The wound on her shoulder was still bleeding sluggishly. She’d need to deal with that at some point. The Master’s eyes drifted to her wound, and he moved toward her, slowly, approaching her as one would a wounded animal.  
  
When he spoke, his voice was oddly soft. He knelt to the floor next to her and extended a hand.  
  
“Let me look at that, Theta.”  
  
“It’s fine.”  
  
“It’s hurting you.”  
  
“Like you care.”  
  
“Don’t be ridiculous. Give me your arm.”  
  
“No!” She roared, pulling her arm away from his grasp.  
  
“You seem upset, dear.”  
  
“Good observation. All the high marks for Koschei. Your kid almost killed someone, you know. Put my friends in danger, could be putting them in danger now. I can’t do that.”  
  
He edged away from her, withdrawing his hand. His eyes lost their softness.  
  
“You’re the one who hauls the pets around. Not my fault, or Archie’s, if they end up dead. They’re so… fragile.”  
  
“You know that’s not the real issue.”  
  
“And what’s that, hmm?”  
  
“Who is she, Koshcei? Is she really yours? If so, how? Why?”  
  
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”  
  
She hauled herself off the floor and launched into his personal space, grabbing his lapels and pulling him close. He smelled the same as he always did, no matter the regeneration. Like smoke and heat and… home.  
  
“I saved you. You owe me.”  
  
“I owe you nothing. Nothing.”  
  
“You owe me everything. You owe your entire existence to me.”  
  
“And doesn’t that just burn you? That you played a role in the destruction of our people? All those children, Doctor…”  
  
“But not one child. You saved one. Who. Is. She?”  
  
“Let me in. I’ll show you.”  
  
“I don’t… I can’t…”  
  
“What Doctor? Too good for me now?”  
  
To let him in fully, when they were both conscious… It would mean something. It would mean that, maybe, maybe she trusted him to some degree. It would be an acknowledgement of their past and everything that was in it. It would draw her back to Missy, back to the vault, back to the Master and the Doctor intertwined in every possible way. To let him in would mean acknowledging two children fumbling together in the red grasses of Gallifrey, Theta nervous and Koschei so sweet.  
  
“I can’t. Please, Koshcei. I can’t.”  
  
He moved towards her again and gently took her hands in his, rubbing circles with his thumbs over and over…  
  
“She’s important. To me, to you. Let me show you what she is. Let me show you what Gallifrey did to her.”  
  
“What do you mean ‘did to her’?”  
  
“Let me show you. I promise I won’t hurt you, Theta. Couldn’t even if I wanted to.”  
  
“Okay. Okay.”  
  
She knew she was going to regret it, but he seemed sincere, truly sincere, and she was so curious…  
  
_Contact  
  
Contact_  
  
He took her to Gallifrey, back before its destruction. The Citadel was gleaming on the horizon, and she could feel the soft brush of red grass beneath her feet.  
  
_This is what it looked like when I went back. Beautiful, isn’t it?  
  
Don’t.  
  
I went back because I was curious, and I wanted to find you. Well, I wanted to cause some trouble which would, probably, have led me back to you._  
  
They were suddenly on the outskirts of the Citadel. Close enough to see it, to smell it, but far enough that the whispering grass had not yet given way to perfectly formed stone.  
  
There was a figure dressed in red robes slumped against a tree, knees against their chest.  
  
_This was where I found her. Alone. Abandoned on the outskirts._  
  
They went closer. Close enough that she recognized Archie, who was clearly trying to mask red eyes and a tear-stained face. Archie ran her robe sleeve across her nose.  
  
“Are you here for the labs?” She asked, voice thick with tears.  
  
“What labs?” The Master responded.  
  
She pointed behind her at a series of unassuming, gray buildings with few windows.  
  
“If you’re wanting the Experimenter, she’s busy at the moment.”  
  
_What is this place, Koschei?  
  
Hush, Theta._  
  
“If I was wanting the Experimenter, what would I be wanting her for?”  
  
“If you’re here for Two, then go knock. She always wants to see investors.”  
  
“Maybe I’m not here for Two, maybe I’m looking for someone else.”  
  
She could tell that this past version of the Master was guessing. He was trying to get as much information from Archie as he could.  
  
“If you’re looking for One, congratulations, you’ve found her. I’ve been reliably informed that I’m a failure, though, so I’d turn around and head home. Or, take your money inside. Two is supposed to be better. She’s promised them he will be.”  
  
The past Master knelt to join Archie on the ground.  
  
“What’s your name… child?”  
  
“I’m One. You’re not here for the lab, are you?”  
  
“No. I’m not. I am here to find something, though. Something important.”  
  
“I don’t know what you’re asking. If it’s not the labs you want, I can’t help you.”  
  
She made as if to stand, but the Master grabbed her hand.  
  
“One, what’s in the labs?”  
  
“I can’t tell you. Top secret is what it is. I’ll have to go. Good day.”  
  
She stood, turned on her heel, and started to walk away. The Master followed.  
  
“I don’t think you want to go back there, do you? I imagine you don’t want to go back to the people that made you cry.”  
  
Archie turned to stare at him blankly.  
  
“I don’t cry.”  
  
“Clearly.”  
  
“What do you want?”  
  
“Have you ever heard of the Matrix, One? Would you like to see it?”  
  
Archie turned and looked at him, eyes wide.  
  
“Isn’t that forbidden?”  
  
“Sure. What’s the fun if it isn’t?”  
  
“Are you asking me to help you commit a crime?”  
  
“I get the feeling you need a pick me up. Nothing better than a crime for the soul.”  
  
_Did you bring a child with you to break into the Matrix?  
  
You take your pets everywhere.  
  
They’re grown adults! They know what they’re getting into.  
  
Oh, of course. That’s why so many of them die, right?  
  
Don’t go there.  
  
Anyway, she was sad. I’m a sucker for sad kids moping on the outskirts of Gallifrey, as you may know._  
  
The scene shifted, and they were outside the Matrix chamber.  
  
“What kind of name is ‘One’ anyway?”  
  
“The kind of name they give to people like me.”  
  
“And who are people like you?”  
  
“Can’t tell.”  
  
“You can’t tell, but you can help me break into the Matrix?”  
  
“Can’t tell. Now, give me the sonic saw. I think I can break this.”  
  
Archie took the item from the Master and applied it to a panel on the wall.  
  
“Didn’t quite imagine you’d be good at this, kid. Figured you’d be a nice sacrifice to the authorities not… helpful.”  
  
Archie looked over at him, eyes filled with equal parts amusement and fear.  
  
“You’re the Master, aren’t you? It’s why you were trying to avoid everyone on the streets and why you’re breaking in rather than just asking.”  
  
“Hm. Maybe.”  
  
“You’ve regenerated. They had your old face all over the vids. Said you were supposed to be shot on sight.”  
  
“Doesn’t seem to disturb you too much.”  
  
She shrugged.  
  
“I’ve seen a lot.”  
  
“Have you now?”  
  
“I’ve got it!”  
  
The door rattled open, revealing the Matrix chamber. The Master darted past Archie and scrambled towards the interface.  
  
“Stay back, One. This isn’t for children.”  
  
“No. You stay back.”  
  
Archie’s entire demeanor had changed. The innocence and slight fear she’d been exuding before had given way to swaggering confidence. She brandished the sonic saw in front of her almost lazily.  
  
“I have questions too. Move aside.”  
  
“Your mind can’t handle it. It will kill you, One.”  
  
“I’ve got an opportunity to know something that I’ve always wanted to know. Now move aside!”  
  
She thrust the saw at him. He moved aside with a graceful bow.  
  
“No need for violence. Take your time. It’s not as if we’re committing high treason or anything.”  
  
Archie rolled her eyes in a familiar way and moved to the interface. Her face went slack as she entered the Matrix, her eyes darting back and forth under her closed eyelids.  
  
As soon as she went under, the Master leapt into action. He grabbed the sonic saw from her hands and threw it to the other side of the room. He then placed his hands on both of Archie’s shoulders and entered the Matrix alongside her.  
  
The scene shifted again. Now, they were inside the familiar blank space that was the Matrix. Archie, or more aptly a psychic projection of her, was standing in the middle of the blank space, images of scientists in laboratories danced around her. Her hands were clasped around her head, twisting her dusty, pale hair into knots at her temples. She was screaming.  
  
“Show me! Show me! I need to know who it was!”  
  
The images slowed to a halt. The colors of the room shifted until the space beneath the Master’s feet was gently clouded with gray. He looked down, surprised.  
  
“You!” Archie shouted.  
  
There, the Master cut the connection. His mind was in upheaval. His distress filled her senses and overwhelmed her mind.  
  
She realized, then, that she was crying and that her forehead was pressed against the Master’s. Their bodies were intertwined in a familiar and intimate way. She could feel his chest heaving against her own and the beating of his hearts echoed in her ears. He was all she could see. All she could feel.  
  
Koshcei needed her.  
  
The only thing she could do was lean forward and press her lips to his.  
  
It felt like exultation.  
  
It felt like a promise, like a whisper of forever.  
  
_I won’t leave you here alone._ __


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has been a long time coming! I've been trying to finish up my education using only the internet and sheer force of will. It worked! I'm a graduate with a graduation ceremony that took place in a living room. Life is weird right now ya'll. I've decided that this needs one more chapter to bring it to a satisfying conclusion that I can be proud of... So, stay tuned for that! Not even my poor brother read this one; thus, all mistakes are my burden to bear.

His hands were wrapped around her shoulders and hers were in his hair. Their thoughts were two in one. She could feel everything. She could feel his sorrow, his loss, his fear. His fear that she would leave him, that she would die, that he would be totally and completely alone without her. His fear of and for Archie, whose existence still frightened him. She could feel the way that he longed for her, for the Doctor, whom he had loved for as long as he could remember, but whom he hated fiercely, ferociously. He hated the idea that her DNA coursed through his veins, molding and shaping him, but he also loved it. He loved that he would always carry a piece of the Doctor within himself, hidden away in the safest and most secret places of his heart and mind.  
  
She wretched away from his mind and came back to her body. She was still kissing him passionately and had somehow pushed his suit jacket to the ground. His fingers were gently trailing down her face, softly pressed against the jut of her cheekbone. Surprisingly, he was the first to pull back, but his fingers never left her face. His eyes were molten with want, with desire, and with something else, something that she didn’t… that she couldn’t confront right now. He opened his mouth, and she readied herself for the next onslaught in their never-ending war of words.  
  
It didn’t come.  
  
Instead, the TARDIS whispered in her mind, and she shuttered to life.  
  
The Master jolted when she did, both of them shocked for the same reason.  
  
“She’s gone.” They both uttered in unison.  
  
\------------  
  
Her hearts were beating wildly in her chest. Pounding, pounding out a rhythm of worry and of fear. Archie was something more than she’d realized. She was some sort of… weapon… fashioned by Gallifrey for a purpose she couldn’t yet determine. She was smart, fast…. And dangerous. Somehow, she was dangerous.  
  
The Master looked like he was in shock, but, nonetheless, stood and replaced his jacket. His eyes had frosted over, and he moved stiffly, like he was trying to avoid something.  
  
Perhaps trying to avoid reaching out. To her.  
  
Or maybe she was projecting.  
  
She heard them yelling, then. Her companions. Her Fam. Whom she had left in horrible danger, yet again.  
  
Yaz burst into the room, followed closely by Ryan and Graham. She was out of breath and flustered, clearly concerned.  
  
“She left! She was rooting around the console room, and I figured that was fine, since you’d left her there, but then she pulled out some sort of weapon and just… left.”  
  
Ryan interrupted.  
  
“She said she was looking for something. Said to tell you that exactly. ‘Tell the Doctor I’m looking for something. That I’m going to fix this.’ What does that mean, Doc? Who is she?”  
  
The Master’s eyes hardened further, a feat which she would have said was impossible moments ago.  
  
“She’s gone looking. She thinks he’s still alive. She thinks that’s why they’re hunting us. But, it’s impossible. He has to be dead.”  
  
She looked to him, surprised by his vulnerability and uncharacteristic uncertainty.  
  
“Who has to be dead?” She needed to know.  
  
“Doctor!” Yaz again. “What is going on? You can’t just keep us in the dark here.”  
  
She looked to the Master again, only to see that he was staring at the floor.  
  
She looked at him hopefully.  
He glanced up, seemingly acknowledging her non-verbal plea, but he quickly returned his gaze to the ground, typical bravado all but washed away.  
  
“She’s my daughter, in sense. She was born in a laboratory on our home planet, Gallifrey. They used my genetic profile and that of several other notable Time Lords and Ladies to create what they thought would be the perfect weapon. She was meant to be the most intelligent and most capable among them. A new leader, brutal, efficient, and unafraid. She was… trained as a child. In what things, I don’t know. She doesn’t speak of it. Somewhere in that training she was deemed to be… deficient in several different ways. She wasn’t brutal enough. Not strong enough. They threw her aside, sent her to the Academy. She returned daily. Hoping that they would take her back. There were the only family she knew, the only life she knew. But, they had… moved on. They had created something different, something new. She was called ‘One,’ but he… He was called ‘Two.’ She feared him… More than she even feared me. He was supposed to have died with Gallifrey, but it seems that Thorsheim and his ilk, those cretins from earlier, think he’s with me. Gallifrey’s greatest weapon in the hands of Gallifrey’s destroyer. They want his power for themselves.”  
  
It made sense now. Everything he had shown her when they had shared their minds. Archie’s misery, the labs on the outskirts, the talk of investors and experiments in labs.  
  
The Master’s visceral reaction to another lost child of Gallifrey. Another victim. Like him…  
  
Like her.  
  
Anger flared hot and bright within her. What were they thinking? Why was it that Gallifrey’s secrets, when laid bare, always held, at their heart, broken children? Perhaps Koschei had been right in what he had done. Perhaps they were beyond hope, monsters of their own creation, living and breathing within their glittering citadels while children burned for their selfish ambition…  
  
But no. She couldn’t go there. Not now. Not while Archie was lost and alone and afraid.  
  
The companions stood in total silence. Shocked, perhaps or maybe just disgusted.  
  
“Your people did that, Doc?” Graham, asking the hard questions.  
  
“You wouldn’t be surprised if you knew the Time Lords, Graham.” The Master replied, still defeated, still oddly morose.  
  
“Is there any chance that this ‘Two’ is actually still alive?” Yaz, asking the right questions.  
  
“Archie seems to think so.” The Master responded. “And, if she’s right…” He began to cackle brokenly, his voice catching and breaking on every rise and fall. “Then, we’re damned. Like Gallifrey… we’ll burn, burn…”  
  
He was losing it. She needed to stop this and now.  
  
“If he’s alive, we deal with it, and we deal with it together. But first, we find Archie. We’re still parked on Earth, she can’t be far.”  
  
“You’d be surprised.”  
  
She shot him a glare. Now wasn’t the time for his gallows humor.  
  
She dashed out of the room, anticipating that they would all follow.  
  
Her optimism, though, was only skin deep.  
  
\------------  
  
When they arrived in the console room, she immediately set to scanning. Archie was a Time Lady among humans. She should light up like a solar flare.  
  
“Doc! You’re still bleeding.”  
  
Rassilion. She’d forgotten about that. Thank the universe for Graham, the ultimate mother-hen.  
  
Graham moved forward, hand out ready to touch, but the Master forced him aside, eyes blazing.  
  
“Don’t touch her.”  
  
She huffed in annoyance.  
  
“If you’re going to be like that, there’s a med kit under the console. You can fix me up yourself. Make sure it’s up to your standards.” He smiled his feral grin, but his eyes remained hooded with worry.  
  
He swiftly acquired the med kit and returned to her side. His touch against her wound was gentle, careful… soft. His mind brushed hers, just as gently.  
  
_Contact  
  
Contact   
  
There’s something else you need to see. Something to explain why… Why I care. About the kid.  
  
You don’t have to explain that, Koshcei.  
  
I want you to know.  
  
Quickly then. Too long and they’ll start to wonder.  
  
Humans. So primitive. _  
  
With that, he pulled her back into his memory from the Matrix chamber.  
  
“You!” Archie shouted. But now, the Doctor could see that she wasn’t angry. She was… relieved.  
  
“I… I never thought. I wanted to know… How could I know it was you?”  
  
She could feel his past confusion.  
  
“What is this about?”  
  
“I always wanted to know who they used to… make me. I wanted to know… where… who I was. It’s you!” Her entire veneer of confidence seemed to collapse, and she rushed forward.  
  
“When you go, and I know you will, please take me too. Please take me away. They made me, they raised me, but they hate me, and I can’t stay anymore. I know I failed. I know. Rassilion, I know. Please take me away. I promise I’ll be good. I’ll be quiet! I’m smart too, I can build things… and break them too…”  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
She turned away then, but the Doctor could tell her eyes were filling with tears.  
  
“I came with you to find out who it was. I found out. It’s you. You’re my… parent.”  
  
The shock of that statement seemed to throw the Master for a moment.  
  
“I don’t have a child.”  
  
She turned back toward him and raced to him, wrapping her thin arms around him.  
  
“You do. You do, I promise. Let me tell you the whole story. Maybe then you’ll take me with you? Think about it…”  
  
The memory collapsed then, and she was back in the console room with Koshcei’s hand lingering on her shoulder. He promptly returned to her wound, gently running a regenerator over it.  
  
She closed her eyes, just for a moment. The Master had shown her that memory for a reason. He had wanted her to know something.  
  
He had wanted her to know that he cared for Archie, which was… surprising.  
  
Just as Koschei finished with her shoulder, the TARDIS console beeped. She jumped forward, away from his grasp.  
  
“What do you have for me, girl hmm? Where is she?”  
  
The scan had found nothing. Archie was, as far as the TARDIS could tell, not on Earth.  
  
“Well, Doc? Where is she?” Graham, again with the questions.  
  
“Gone. She’s not on Earth.”  
  
The Master grumbled under his breath and moved closer to the console screen and to her.  
  
“She must have taken Thorsheim’s ship. If I had to guess, she’s going to go to them. She’ll want to know what they know. If they’ve heard about Two then they might be able to point her to him, however inadvertent their help.”  
  
Ryan interjected, surprised.  
  
“She’s going to try to find him? She’s going to look for this monster?”  
  
“She thinks it’s her fault.”  
  
“How’s it her fault?”  
  
“Doctor, I think I can get us to Thorsheim’s men, but we’ll need to move quickly. If she finds Two… if he’s somehow alive… she’ll certainly die.”  
  
His eyes were haunted again, and she was certain that hers mirrored his.  
  
“Give me the coordinates.”  
  
\------------  
  
The Master directed her to a planet called Mem. It was, as far as she remembered, a snowy, desolate wasteland with little to offer. The Master, though, indicated that it was an excellent hideout for unsavory sorts. She parked the TARDIS with little fanfare and rushed to the door. The weather was just as she remembered, cold and miserable, but visible through the snow was a sprawling complex, a dark slash of color across the unforgiving white. Smoke rose from twisted smokestacks, gray against blue.  
  
It looked like an evil place.  
  
Just then, a shot and a shout rang out and two figures emerged from one of the nearby buildings. One of them was wearing a black hooded cape, like the man from Sheffield, and one of them was wearing a torn blouse with a sleeve dripping toward the ground.  
  
Archie.  
  
The Master pushed past her and rushed forward, heeding neither wind nor snow nor her shout to stop. She, of course, raced after him, followed closely by the Fam.  
  
At first, it was only clear that Archie was talking to the man, but as they approached, it became clear that she was threatening him. She was grasping an ancient blaster, one that the Doctor recognized as being one of her “confiscated from dangerous people” weapons. Archie was gesturing at the man with the weapon, but the man seemed unmoved by her threats. When it became clear that the man wasn’t going to give in, Archie seemed to change tactics. She threw herself at the man, tackling him to the ground, where she then proceeded to point the blaster at his forehead from her new position on his chest.  
  
Thankfully, they reached her in time to prevent catastrophe.  
  
The Master was the first to reach her side, but the Doctor followed close behind. Close enough now to hear Archie repeating again and again,  
  
“Where is he? Where is he? WHERE IS HE?”  
  
Archie was shaking with fear, or maybe adrenaline, and her eyes had taken on a feverish glow.  
  
The Master reached for her but was repelled by a pointed look and a pointed blaster.  
  
“Stay back. He knows something. I know he does, and he’s going to tell me. He’s going to tell me or HE’S GOING TO LOSE AN EAR!”  
  
Oddly, the Master looked a little perturbed by this. Well, at least that was progress.  
  
“Archie,” She began, hoping the girl had even the slightest bit of sense left, but she was interrupted by the cloaked man.  
  
“I don’t know what you want from me! We were told the Master had a weapon. The one that he used to destroy an entire planet. We were instructed to find him, find the weapon, and…”  
  
“WHAT WEAPON? What was it called?”  
  
The man looked at Archie, clearly terrified.  
  
“They told me, but it didn’t make sense… It’s not a name…”  
  
“What. Was. It. Called?”  
  
“I was told it was simply called ‘One.’”  
  
Archie froze, blaster drooping slightly.  
  
“Are you certain? There was nothing else. No other weapon mentioned?”  
  
“No. Just ‘One,’ whatever that is. Please. Let me up. I have a family, you know.”  
  
Archie looked at the man, eyes now empty and blank.  
  
“It was never Two.” She stated, darkness coloring her words.  
  
She stood and stepped away from the cloaked figure who, upon being released, fled for his life.  
  
Archie slumped to the ground.  
  
“He’s dead. They didn’t think it was him. They weren’t looking for him. He’s dead.”  
  
The Master moved toward her again and this time she didn’t resist. He wrapped an arm around her skinny frame as she began to cry.  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought it was him. I thought he was back. I thought I could fix it and keep you safe, keep the Doctor safe, but you’re not safe. Not with…”  
  
“No, Archie. No.”  
  
She looked up at him, devotion shining in her pale eyes.  
  
“You’re not mad?”  
  
“Of course not. Doctor might be if you killed any people.”  
  
“I didn’t!”  
  
The Doctor sank to the ground next to the Master.  
  
“What is it you two are not telling me?” She asked, knowing somehow that there was a piece of the puzzle that had yet to be revealed.  
  
They both turned to look at her, guilt colored Archie’s features while the Master simply looked… decided. Whatever they had done together, it was clear that the Master didn’t regret it.__


End file.
